Folding seat



Oct. 11, 1949. w, HElFNER 2,484,454

FOLDING SEAT Filed Oct. 25, 1945 lN VENT OR.

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Patented Oct. 11, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,434,454 Y FOLDING SEAT Wilbert G. Heifner, Denver, Colo. Application October 25, 1945, Serial No. 624,415

This invention relates to foldable, portable seats and especially to combined and interrelatively foldable seat and back having means for securing the same to a plain, unbacked bench, seat, etc., such as are common in small boats, football stadiums, bleacher seats in ball parks, etc.

Objects of the invention are to provide, in an article of the class described, (a) improved means for securing the article to a bench, bleacher seat or the like: (b) single means for ooincidentlv securing the article to such bench, or the like, and holding the back in upright position for occupancy; means whereby said securing means may also be used to secure the article in folded position and, coincidently provide a carrying handle for the folded article, and (d) an inexpensive, durable, convenient, comfortable and simple article of said kind.

With these and other objects in view, all of which will more fully hereinafter appear, the invention comprises certain novel constructions, combinations and arrangements of parts as will now be described and defined in the appended claims, as illustrated, in preferred embodiment, in the accompanying illustrative drawing, in which Fig. l is a side elevation of the invention, secured to a, bench (shown in cross section).

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the invention as illustrated at Fig. l, and

Fig. 3 is an end or edge view of the invention in folded position.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the seat bar.

The invention has a base 5, of plywood or other suitable material, of size and shape suitable for a seat for a person, the under surface of the base being preferably a plane surface adapted to rest solidly on the bench, bleacher seat, etc., indicated at B. Bar 6, of aluminum, or other rigid, preferably light, material, is secured to the base by suitable means, as rivets not shown, and has a rearwardly projecting lug 6a and a depending stop 6b.

The back comprises a member 1, preferably of material like bar 6, having its rear side channelled as at 1a, its lower portion suitably curved, as at to, and its bottom end bifurcated to receive lug 6a and be pivoted thereto as by pin 8 and formed, as at 10, to seat against stop 6b when the back member is in upright position, a back rest 9, of any desired construction, being carried by the top of member I, wings ID, or other suitable means, being provided for securely seating rest 9 upon and securing it to member 1.

Base is topped with padding I I to a thickness 5 Claims; (01. 155133) greater than the height of bar 6, the padding also covering the bar, and the padding is enclosed in a suitable cover I2 A p i3 is attached to the central part of the front of the seat and carries a pair of cinch loops'l l.

Pin I5 is secured in the Walls of the channel 1a andstrap i6 is looped around and secured to the pin.

In operation base 5 is seated onthe bench B and the back is raised to the: position shown at Figs. 1 and 2 and strap 16 is passed under the bench and its end is passed through the cinch loops Id and drawn taut in the usual manner of cinching a strap in cinch loops,.as clearly illustrated at Figs. 1 and 3. Necessary tension of the strap, to secure the device to the bench, and coincidently hold the back in upright position, is obtained by tightening the strap through the cinch loops, whereupon the device is ready for use. After use strap H5 is disengaged from the cinch loops, the back is folded down to position shown at Fig. 3 so that the back rest engages the seat. Strap I3 is then swung, on pin l5, over the top of the back rest and the free end of the strap is engaged to the cinch loops, thereby securing the device in folded position for carrying. In this connection it will be noted that in the embodiment illustrated at Figs. 1-3 the back rest and seat are so relatively positioned that the back rest engages the top face of the seat, thus leaving a space bounded by the front face of the back rest, the front edge of the seat and strap It so that the portion of the strap, designated as lfia, between the top of the back rest and the bottom cinch loops may be used as a handle for carrying the device in folded position.

The pin I5 is preferably so positioned along member 1 that the distance from the pin to the cinch loops, along the path of the strap when the device is in position for use, will be substantially the same as that along the path of the strap when the device is folded and secured by the strap, so that there Will be no bothersome long free end of the strap in either case.

of construction but I am not to be limited thereto as many equivalents, within the spirit of the foregoing specification and the scope of the appended claims, will readily occur to those skilled in the art.

I claim:

A portable folding seat for bleachers and like benches comprising, in combination, a seat member, a back-rest carried by a rigid standard hinged to the seat member and thereby adapted to be folded against the seat member, a stop to limit to substantially upright position, the movement of the standard away from the seat member, a strap secured at one end to said standard and means carried at the front of the seat member adapted to engage the other end portion of the strap, whereby said strap may be either passed under a bench and be engaged by said means and thereby hold the standard against said stop and, coincidently secure the seat to the bench, or be passed over the top of the back-rest when folded against the seat, and be engaged by said means thereby securing the device in folded position.

2. In a device as defined in claim 1, said engaging means comprising cinch loops carried by the front of the seat member and adapted to engage said strap either beneath the seat or in front thereof.

3. In a device as defined in claim 1, said standard being rearwardly channelled and said strap being adapted to lie in said channel when '4 the seat is secured to a. bench in position for use. 4. In a device as defined in claim 1, the back rest and the seat member being so inter-relatively positioned that, when folded, the lower edge of the back rest will lie against the forward portion of the top portion of the seat member and provide a space bounded by the front of the back rest, the front edge of the seat member and the strap and cinch loops, whereby the portion of the strap between the back rest and the cinch loops may be used as a carrying handle.

5. In a device as defined in claim 1, the seat member having a base and a bar carried by the base and terminating, at the rear of the seat, in an ear and a depending stop, the standard having a pair of ears overlapping and pivoted to said first ear and having a lower extremity adapted to rest against said stop when the standard is in substantially upright position.

WILBERT G. HEIFNER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PLA'IENTS 

